This song is so relatable in so many different way. If you’ve ever been hurt and felt so undervalued in a situation that it left you actually believing your worth was lost… then this is such a powerful song to listen to. It’s also incredibly relatable to our society right now.

I was talking with one of my very best friends, and we were both crying over how amazing this song is and how wonderful it is to create something so beautiful whilst emerging from such a hurt and sad place. We were exchanging how we related to this song. I was sharing about how I was sexually assaulted as a young adult and sometimes I wonder if there’s something fucked up about me not only forgiving him, but hoping that he’s changed and has found whatever he was lacking that led him to think it was okay to force himself onto a sleeping girl. I gave myself permission a long time ago to let go of the negativity. That’s his to bare. I didn’t have a choice in his actions, so I refused to live with his baggage. And my bestie shared about how he found it relatable post-breakup, and how we always hope someone understands how much they’ve wounded us, and work that out on their own. Their baggage, not ours. May they face it.

Life is beautiful but it’s also real fucking hard. We’re all a little broken by our path but it’s the piecing back together that creates the beauty in our present. It’s an amazing gift to be able to connect with others on something that rings so achingly relevant to us.

I can’t leave out how the visuals for the video are amazing, and shed a lot of light on those societal aspects that make this song so relatable. The standard of beauty is something I talk a lot about, because it’s fucking outrageous and I think we owe it to ourselves to squash it like she does the TV. The list just goes on and on, because this video really is fantastic. The TV with “Dems are evil” -good lord, if I had a fucking dollar for every time some conservative made me sound like I was “too much” or a weirdo hippy when I was talking about equality means EQUAL fucking treatment for ERRRRRBODY. *covers face in disappointment* I had educated, conservative men ask me (on International Women’s Day) if I actually believe women are undervalued in this society……………………………………. I was at work, so I couldn’t say “OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES AND EARS.” I mean, I was calm and gave a semi-chill “hell yes” type answer, but shouting would’ve felt better in that moment.

Thank you, Kesha, for giving us so many important feels. It couldn’t have come at a better time. This song is life-changing, creative, and just fucking brilliant. Congratulations.

Guys, I really don’t give a fuck about a divorcing couple I’ve never met. We all have issues we’re passionate about, let’s focus on those. Let’s focus on what’s going on around us & in the world…not what’s going on in the bedrooms of Hollywood’s finest. 🙏❤️🌍 #TooManyBrangelinaMemesAndHeadlines #SoapboxMomentOver

So, bumble (the dating app) spoke out about a woman being verbally abused by a male user, and I’m getting all sorts of feisty over it:

HelloGiggles covers the story pretty well if you want to read what bumble had to say in response to the screenshot above.

If you’ve ever been on Tinder or Bumble, you’ve probably encountered a Connor-type. He’s a classic “I have too much to offer you, so tread lightly” type. My most recent encounter with one of those was when I matched with Legarrette Blount last summer, and he told me I should consider myself “lucky”, because he’s picky. – 😳 ahem…excuse me?! Who the fuck are you!? (I had to google him to figure out who the hell he was) And I’m still NOT impressed, but his name sure as hell stuck with me!

I digress, it’s crazy that this Connor guy’s prestigious degree didn’t instill any sense of decency or humbleness in him. What a great way to impress the world with a fancy degree, Connor. We thank you for even allowing the rest of us to coexist with your ego. *barf*

This guys is a massive jerk, and I hope he finds exactly what he’s looking for in a counterpart… A giant bag of dicks.

Oh, and to all the haters of state schools… We got the same education, but I paid for mine myself. *flips hair* #ProudASUalum

Today in Podcasts You Should Be Obsessed With: Kicking and Screaming, brought to you by Jenna and Bodhi Elfman.

There’s seriously nothing I love more than a couple that has been together for basically ever and they do nothing but keep it real.

This is the time of Facebook and Instagram posts, declaring undying love for a soulmate. Well, I don’t know about any of yall, but I’ve never dated an actual unicorn…and I’ve also never done heroine, so the euphoria these people express towards their lovers just confuses the shit out of me. Real love, to me, is someone who chooses you daily, and can still say “God, you’re fucking annoying sometimes. Still love you though!”

I love LOVE love watching their podcasts. Jenna Elfman will for ever be my favorite hippy queen; Dharma, and their relationship is REAL. They actually express their annoyances towards one another.

Check out their podcast, Kicking and Screaming, where they talk life, sex, parenting, and the perils of trying to get to your flight on time when your kid has to take the biggest number two there ever was.

Apparently this blog is of this “neomasculinist’ movement… because at some point masculinity became old hat and left our male dominated world?? Anyway, It’s been highly publicized lately, as one of their writers allegedly promotes legalizing rape on private property.

Did anyone else’s jaw drop when they read that? So, here’s the dirt: in his 2015 blog post, he was quoted as saying: “I propose that we make the violent taking of a woman not punishable by law when done off public grounds. If rape becomes legal under my proposal, a girl will protect her body in the same manner that she protects her purse and smartphone.” – Author and founder of this gem of a website and movement, Daryush ‘Roosh’ Valizadeh, said his comment was meant to be satire…………………..

*I must also add two things: the author of the post in question/creator of this site is a self-professed relationship guru. He gives dating advice on his site. And it’s hilarious. WHAT A STUD. And second: I have NOT found an actual publication talking about being pro-rape legalization outside of the quoted phrase above. To be honest, I got too sick of weeding through the sexist drivel to continue searching.

But here are a few of the highlights (along with my thoughts) from my trip through this website. Feel free to click the links and read them for yourselves.

I’m surprised this list didn’t include “#10: Having a Heartbeat also makes women stupid”. Do these guys even like women?? It doesn’t sound like it. I don’t know about you guys, but I think these guys sound like a bunch of 10’s. I bet they get all of the dates.

The author lists 10 different commonly prescribed antidepressants (brand name and generic name), and urges other men to investigate their potential partners. He recommends they check the bathroom medicine cabinet (obviously), the purse, the car, the nightstand, etc. ALL in the name of finding out of she takes antidepressants. He later goes on to say this: “These pill popping broads are not to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form—they’re losers. And what do losers do? They fucking lose, and they’ll bring your ass along for the ride if you let them. Just because these women get their drugs from a pharmacist, and not some low-life drug dealer working a street corner, doesn’t mean their issues have legitimacy.”

Well, from this “batshit ho-bag from America” to all of you,

I get my Prozac from CVS (not a drug dealer), and it’s white…not green………..So, there’s that. -Can we all just take a minute to consider what sort of human this man is? A man that not only demeans women who take prescription medications, but also warns other men to stay away. How gross. It’s 2016, how do men like this still exist? It is completely unacceptable to shame ANYONE for taking care of their mental health.

Mental health is a serious and important thing. Fuck everyone that tells any of you otherwise. EMBRACE who you are, and what got you to where you are….baggage and all! You are perfect the way you are. We all are.

*sidenote: so, SSRI’s (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors= used for seratonin imbalances) are completely unacceptable, but there’s no mention of actual narcotics being unacceptable?? So, your girl can be an addict (not of Xanax though, because it’s used for anxiety)…she just can not be depressed, have anxiety, or have any other personality disorder that requires an ‘upper’?

Like I said in the beginning, I could NOT find anything tying the site to a “pro-rape” agenda.

I really do believe, after having read several pieces by these men, that the author and creator of that site was being a sexist jerk who thinks rape is a woman’s problem and not a societal problem. I believe his “satirical” statement was said in a “if we legalize rape, maybe they’ll stop being sluts and actually protect themselves.” sort of way. Is he pro-rape legalization? Probably not. Is he a sexist asshole who thinks rape is a woman’s fault and problem? Yeah, probably.

Shutting down ignorance like this website is hugely important to becoming a better world. Let’s not get caught up in a media frenzy over one single line he said months ago. Lets instead look at the website as a whole and say “no, this is unacceptable.” -Return of kings has a really large following, so it’s not like there are a handful of men out there that live by these mindsets. There’s a massive amount of them, so it’s going to take a massive amount of opposing thinkers to shut down their sexist and hateful spewing.

I wanted to take a break from my typical life musings to talk about the Golden Globe controversy.

Ricky Gervais was accused of being transphobic at the Golden Globes (click highlighted name to view footage).

In the video, Gervais says: “I’m going to be nice tonight. I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously… now Caitlyn Jenner. What a year she’s had. She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes … She didn’t do a lot for women drivers, but you can’t have everything, can you?”

After receiving a lot of criticism for his choice of jest, he published a few related tweets:

What do you guys think? Is that transphobic? …as a follower of his career, I find it to be typical Gervais sexism comedy. I expect nothing less from him -not that I deem casual sexism acceptable in the slightest. I’m having a hard time viewing these comments as transphobic, and I also think these allegations towards him might be distracting us from discussing the frequency of casual sexism in comedy routines.

I want to hear your thoughts -my opinions are only that of one woman. How do you feel about his comments?

Body shaming is something that has been widely discussed over the course of the last 5-7 years. As a society, it’s slowly becoming less and less acceptable to body shame. In Carrie Fisher’s case, she wasn’t just body shamed, she was also age shamed. People were coming down on her for aging and becoming “softer” than he former 20 year old self.

This is something that hits close to home for all of us…

As a culture, we’re expected to be bikini ready, age flawlessly, and always embrace our “true selves”. How can we do the latter while doing the former? You can’t always embrace your natural state if you’re worried about how people will treat you if you’re not bikini-ready. And let’s also discuss that being bikini-ready shouldn’t be a “thing”. The idea that we don’t look beautiful because we don’t look like a Victoria secret model in a two-piece is an abusive social trend. These standards put WAY too much pressure on the average young woman. I can’t even imagine what these standards do to the average aging woman, let alone the aging woman that was once a sex symbol among geeks of all kinds.

Why do we expect more from her?
This all boils down to people’s perception of beautiful people around the world: beautiful people are inherently good, happy, generous, and age well. -This is obviously incredibly false. Beautiful people are human: they eat, they poop, they can be horrible, they can be wonderful, but most of all…they all age!

She IS our Princess LeiaA lot of “trolls” were commenting that it was almost as if our princess Leia (that we all know and love) was gone, and replaced by this older and “softer” looking woman. Well, trolls, do you think that Han Solo can be a grandpa-aged man, but Leia will stay in her 20’s forever? -She’s not a vampire, and Star Wars is Science Fiction, not Fantasy: people age in Star Wars. Take your vampire and werewolf anti-aging expectations elsewhere: you’re in the wrong genre of geekdom.

Huffington Post covered a few of the hurtful comments that were tweeted directly to Carrie, and they also provided her classy shut down to all of the haters:“Youth and beauty are not accomplishments. They’re temporary by-products [sic] of time and/or DNA. Don’t hold your breath for either.”
YESSSSSSSSSS. Thank you, Carrie Fisher, you classy classy woman. External beauty is NOT permanent, unless you’re Cher. In her case, she’s invested an immeasurable amount of money to appear as if father time has never been in her presence. Good for her, but also good for everyone else who greets him with grace.

Who says just because someone is a public figure that they have to invest money on anti-aging procedures? Shame on you, anti-aging trolls. Look to your parents and grandparents, and think about someone verbally attacking their physique, via social media, for altering over 40 years. It’s cruel and COMPLETELY unacceptable.

What Carrie Fisher endured was horrifying. The original Star Wars movies came out 40 years ago. If anything, be impressed with the fact that she showed up to honor the original duo that is Luke and Leia. -Yes, she was every nerd’s wet dream in the 70’s: how does that mean she’s not allowed to age as the rest of us do!? And why do nerds of 2016 expect hotness from someone who their moms and dads swooned over in the 70’s?? -Your parents are old as fuck, why wouldn’t a character from their era ALSO be aged??? -Keep this in mind when you allow your internal thoughts to become external thoughts. We’re all human, it’s not uncommon to think “holy crap… I didn’t expect this character to age”, but that’s something we say to our friends, or keep to ourselves. Think before spewing hatred, Internet trollers.

Good for you, Carrie Fisher, for dealing with these cruel comments in such a classy way. I never took a liking to Princess Leia’s character, but Carrie Fisher definitely has a fan in me. Bravo, Madam.